The Isinkan Community in Akure south local government area of Ondo State will begin this year’s Obarisa Festival on Friday, 22nd of April 2022.
The Monarch, Iralepo of Isinkan, Oba Oluwagbemiga Olofin Adimula Arulewolasi III announced this in his palace on Friday after a series of meetings with High Chiefs, Princes, Princesses, and other noteworthy members of the community.
He said the Obarisa Festival would provide a platform to commemorate other notable events and fetes annually celebrated in Isinkan.
According to the Royal Father, the maiden Obarisa Festival shall be heralded on the 22nd of April 2022 by the ‘Opa’ ceremony led by the youths of Isinkan.
This will thereafter be followed by the ‘Ela usi’ (Akoda) and Asun sunset on the 23rd of April 2022.
Oba Arulewolasi explained that “the Obarisa Festival is a thanksgiving fete and is designed to commemorate the successful splashdown of Obara and his female companion, Yeye Oshorun, at the founding of Isikan land.”
“According to our oral history, our progenitor is the first man to set feet on land and he and his companion in ancient times set up the first Usi for the supreme being and consecrated this entire land as a holy place.
The Obarisa Festival would afford the people of Isinkan the opportunity of a communal re-enactment of that blissful experience with a joint celebration of the Supreme Deity and unequaled King of all Gods in the Isinkan spiritual cosmos.”
The Oba added that “the overall objective of the Festival is to promote peace, progress, and togetherness in the town and turn the hearts of the people back to the Supreme Deity as a symbol of unity and success”.
“In times past, the Opa aspect of the ceremony provided an opportunity to test the strength, endurance, and will of the toughest young men in the town before being sent to spend additional three full moons at a place now known as Isarun which was then a dreaded hunting wilderness where the sons of Isinkan shared friendly swords and arrows with sons of Alara and other brethren from ancient Igbara”.
Oba Adimula said he is committed to resuscitating all the traditional festivals being celebrated in the community to showcase the community’s rich history and heritage and properly packaged for an international audience in terms of standards.
The Iralepo said “I look forward to a colourful festival that will showcase our rich culture as a people. I enjoin indigenes of Isinkan both at home and in the Diaspora to take an active part in the celebration of this year’s Obarisa Festival”.
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While calling for more support and unity amongst the stakeholders in Isinkan, Oba Ademula said the validation of the Iralepo throne by the courts was a sweet victory for all Indigenes and residents of Isikan.
He promised to collaborate with the Ondo State government in making the state capital the envy of all.